'Eight dead' after shooting at Canadian mosque

International Desk: Eight people were killed after gunmen opened fire in a Quebec City mosque during evening prayers, the mosque's president told the local reporters of Canada on Sunday.

Earlier, a witness told Reuters that up to three gunmen fired on about 40 people inside the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Center. Police put up a security perimeter around the mosque and declined to comment to reporters about the incident.

A number of ambulances are parked outside of the Islamic cultural centre of Quebec in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood.

Two suspects have been arrested in this regard.

In June 2016, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a pig's head was left on the doorstep of the mosque."Why is this happening here? This is barbaric,” said the mosque's president, Mohamed Yangui.

Yangui, who was not inside the mosque when the shooting took place, said he got frantic calls from people at evening prayers.

He did not know how many were injured, saying they had been taken to different hospitals across Quebec City.